[Bub13]

Thirteen of our final twenty-five games will be on the road, but we'll close the season with home series against two bottom-dwellers, Minnesota and California. After tough early series--NY first, then Seattle and Texas--we'll only play one more over-.500 squad the rest of the way (Houston, mid-month). And true to my word, I only recall two players for the roster expansion: catcher Michael Snavely gets his second MLB call (.133 in 15 AB early on), and reliever Phil Bishop gets his first visit to the Islands. (We claimed him on waivers from Seattle in May, to help with AAA injuries. He made 5 starts for the M's last year and 1 relief app for them this year.)

September 1 @ NY YANKEES
Final tilt in the Bronx. A win puts us four in front of our nearest wildcard rivals.

HAW pitcher: RH Mike Bader (5-10, 5.15)
NYY pitcher: LH Elijah Bragg (14-10, 3.98)

#138: LOSS 3-4 ... three solo HR is the extent of our efforts tonight...Bader is okayish but gives up a run an inning early on and we can't recover

Tsk. Lead is now 2 over the Yanks. Okay, wrap this up and let's move on.... ELSEWHERE: Minnesota's rookie CF Ryan Lawler was named AL player of August, and for the season has gone .347/.387/.659 with 36 HR and 6.6 WAR. Between him, LF Jordan Foots (.338/.398/.723, 52 HR), and a RF rotation of Tim Marinaccio and Josh Conley (62 HR combined), you'd think their record would be better than 12 games under .500.... Eight game hot streak and 93 wins on the season for the White Sox, making their inevitable first round playoff KO in a month's time all that more disheartening for their fans.


September 2-4 @ SEATTLE
Yes, more must-win games for us. Seattle is now back in fourth place, five games behind us, but of course that could change quickly. (Ftr, we're 7-8 against them this year.) Since finishing May at 15 games over .500, they've given up 13 games to that mark and are currently 70-68. Offense sits 4th, pitching 14th, so it's clear where the issues are. Jon Terrell and Ger Van Mourik drive the offensive bus, and Paul Stough, Sam Moore, and Nick Ragsdale have added some power to the mix, putting them 5th overall in home runs. Four starting pitchers are out, along with RF Rogelio Pena. Throw those five back into the mix and you have a divisional contender here. Of course, that's not how this works, and they have to get things in gear if they're going to make the post-season for the first time since 2048. (Last winning season was in '49, at 83-79.)

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Pearse (9-9, 4.20) / RH Andy Burke (8-3, 4.52) / LH Matt Waugh (17-4, 3.31)
SEA pitchers: RH Vince Push (7-10, 5.04) / RH Dan Crews (5-7, 4.98) / RH Erik Ramey (12-8, 6.61)

#139: LOSS 3-7 ... Pearse fans 10 but blows up in the 6th, taking the loss...8 hits here, only 3 after the third inning
#140: WIN 7-5 ... Medici's 3-run blast in a 4-run 8th caps our comeback win...Burke gets beaten up early, but a solid 4.2 shutout IP from the pen
#141: WIN 3-2 ... no one scores after the 4th, but Gase and Tipping hit solo HR, and we use 11 hits plus a solid 5-hit outing from Waugh to win

Okay, I'll take it. Two out of three--or close to it--should get us to the playoffs. We get no closer to Texas (9 behind), but maintain a three game lead over an AL East logjam behind us: NY, Boston, and Miami are all tied with 74 wins.... Rookie Bennetsen has stopped hitting, so he'll slide out of the lineup a bit in favor of Espino and Venters, both still finding ways to contribute despite neither starring at the plate.... Bishop made a solid 3.2 inning debut against his old mates, not allowing a run.... ELSEWHERE: Six losses in a row for Cleveland, still stuck on 50 wins. Along with California and Montreal, they've been officially eliminated from the post-season.... Another forgettable year in Austin, but don't blame Alfonso Contreras, leading the NL with 58 HR and 127 RBI, as well as topping the charts in SLG, OPS, XBH, ISO, and WOBA.... So who's been the least productive MLB regular this year? I'll say Giants catcher Nate Homer, who in 368 AB has managed to go .158/.241/.228, with -2.2 WAR and 21 OPS+. Honorable mention however goes to 2052 first overall pick Eddie Feltman of Baltimore, who's hit .202 in 263 AB, with -1.8 WAR. Worst than that are his fielding stats at short: 52 starts, -9.0 ZR, .877 EFF. Wow.


September 5-7 vs TEXAS
Let's get this one out of the way early, okay? We're an unlovely 4-11 against these guys this season, so don't get your hopes up for an early-month run at the division crown. Their hitting finally came around, led of course by the impeccable Ryan Boers (.346/43/117) and Eric Halvorson (.335/46/128). Everyone but catcher Phil Thoma (.193) is raking right now, but at least he's added 15 HR and solid defense. Pitching is still getting it done too, 2nd in runs against and putting out the best rotation ERA in the AL, an amazing 3.88. Bobby Daniel leads the league in ERA and is second in wins, but probably won't get much of a sniff for the Cy Young because he doesn't have power numbers (150 K in 206 IP). After struggling for so long--zero playoff appearances from 2024 to 2049--they're headed to the post-season for the fifth consecutive campaign, and will likely take their first division title since 2019.

HAW pitchers: RH Danny Carbajal (7-4, 4.10) / RH Mike Bader (5-11, 5.14) / RH Mike Pearse (9-10, 4.28)
TEX pitchers: LH Bobby Daniel (16-4, 2.58) / RH Paul Labbe (15-9, 4.17) / LH Bill Butts (9-12, 5.36)

#142: LOSS 4-8 ... 4 long balls, none of them ours...I'm not quite sure how we even managed four runs here, on just six hits
#143: WIN 12-1 ... Medici homers then gets hit in the 7th and beats up their pitcher...shocking offense, 12 hits and 9 walks, even Griffin homers!
#144: LOSS 4-10 ... Pearse is chased after two frightful innings...three lousy singles from Gase account for a third of our offense

I knew this series wouldn't go well, and that third game especially, after Medici got suspended for three games. So we're ten behind the Rangers, no surprise, but Boston and Miami have gained a game on us. Next we play the awesome White Sox, so expect things to get even tighter before they could improve again.... Bishop tosses another 3.2 scoreless IP in relief. Maybe I should give him a start.... Backup catcher Bentley Kolb has 42 starts and has made six errors. That, and a 16% rate of throwing out baserunners, has me deeply concerned for the future of the best name on the roster right now.... ELSEWHERE: New Orleans has stabilized and holds a single game lead over the Cubs, with the slipping Cards now 4 out. And LA will clinch the West with one more win or a Portland loss.... Fwiw, Mike Head (CHW), Matt Waugh (HAW), and Everett Cronk (LA) have 18 wins; Conor MacLeod (NYM) leads baseball with 269 K, the only guy to have a legit chance at 300 K. He'd become the first guy to hit that mark in both leagues since, I believe, Orlando Ramos (308 w/ BOS in '21, 309 w/ ATL in '26.


September 9-11 vs CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Okay, here we go: our last season series against a truly good team. These guys have won 97 games, lead the league in offense (903 runs! 281 HR!) and are doing it without any one player having a knockout season. Four regulars are batting .300 (not including SS Chris Rock, dtd for another week and batting .320), and six have cracked at least 25 HR. Slots 3-7 have banged out 197 home runs (!!!) while we as a team have hit 180. And if that's not bad enough, their pitching ranks 4th in the AL. Fourth! Who do they think they are? Last-year us? Again, it's a team effort on the mound too, as most have been solid but no one's playing at an award-winning level. I'd be lying if I said I'd be happy with one win here, but I really wish we had a "use neutral zone trap" button as an option here.

HAW pitchers: RH Andy Burke (8-3, 4.77) / LH Matt Waugh (18-4, 3.28) / RH Danny Carbajal (7-5, 4.23)
CHW pitchers: RH Robby Liantonio (11-9, 5.00) / RH Mike Head (18-4, 4.28) / RH Jasper Cummings (11-4, 3.91)

#145: LOSS 1-2 ... arrrgh...Burke allows two hits, zero home runs, and still loses...we get three hits, two of them doubles, and still flounder
#146: LOSS 0-8 ... Waugh, why do you hurt me so: pulled in the 5th after another horrorshow...but Lynn gets 4 hits, yippee!
#147: LOSS 3-4 ... Carbs goes the distance but allows a 9th inning HR for the loss...we actually outhit them tonight, but to no avail

Four losses in a row, and five out of six, for our feckless fellows. We're back to a tie with NY for wildcard #2, with Boston and Miami a game behind.... Medici missed the first two games on suspension, not helping the cause. He got a hit on his return, but needs to start chowing down on those cans of spinach for us to be successful.... Athens (R) and Poughkeepsie (Short A) won their divisions and begin their playoffs soon; Eureka (A) tied with Bakersfield and is already down 2-0 in their playoff series; and Androscoggin (AA) has clinched their division and has one regular season game remaining.... ELSEWHERE: 100 wins for the Chisox, courtesy of some unlucky team.... A Tale of Two Cities: Cleveland is 9-29 since August 1, and LA becomes the first team to clinch their division.... Two weeks left in the season and STL's Nate Forrester has all but sealed the batting title, 25 points ahead at .361. In the AL it's a three-way tie at .351 with three more at .348, .347, and .346.... A little spree from Tampa has them 10 up on NY now, with their Magic # at 6. (Texas' is at 5, but who's counting.)


September 12-14 @ BALTIMORE
Okay, 15 games left and we're playing a team that's won 65 games and has lost 4 out of their last 5. Sixteenth in offense, 13th in pitching, but 194 steals leads the league! Congrats! There's not much else to celebrate here, but 2B Steve McClellan may be the Rule 5 pick of the century: .286/46/111, with 29 steals and 4.7 WAR. A few others have made some noise (Miguel Echevarria with 30 HR, Paul Stroot hitting .341). And they may have broken '52 #1 overall pick Eddie Feltman, batting .204 but with a league-worst -2 WAR and a really sad -10 ZR at short. On paper he looks pretty good still, so he can come back strong next year, you'd think. If they can keep some of these guys around, the possible good news is that the farm system ranks 11th, with 5 guys in the top 100. There are some good looking prospects on the mound and at the plate, so something to build on if they're smart.

HAW pitchers: RH Mike Bader (6-11, 4.93) / RH Mike Pearse (9-11, 4.58) / RH Andy Burke (8-4, 4.58)
BAL pitchers: RH Jonas Chevalier (9-12, 5.54) / RH Andy Myers (4-7, 5.67) / RH Bob Lankford (1-3, 8.31)

#148: LOSS 0-3 ... great start here, held to just 3 hits...at least Bader looked good, not that anyone noticed...five straight losses
#149: WIN 6-1 ... Tipping and Bennetsen--who?--homer, and Lynn adds 3 hits and 3 RBI...Pearse fans 14 in 8 IP, Bishop another shutout IP in relief
#150: WIN 8-5 ... 3-hit games for Matson, Cov, and Ulkini, with HR from the first two...Yaung wins his 10th game from the pen

No needed sweep, but I'll take the two wins. Detroit has officially secured the #1 spot, but who cares. For now, we're maintaining a one game lead over NY and MIA, two over HOU, three over BOS.... Rough couple of months for Royer, going 33-for-150 and seeing his average drop below .300 for the first time in, oh, 18 months or so.... Tenth wins for Pearse and for Yaung, who's 10-0 out of the bullpen.... Josh Matson has hit 21, 26, and 26 home runs in his three years as a starter. He just reached # 10 on this season.... ELSEWHERE: Detroit, Chicago, and Texas all clinched AL playoff spots. Tampa should soon, with a 9-game lead in the East.... In the NL, outside of the West things are tight: WAS leads PHI by one and RIC by two in the East; and NOZ has reclaimed the Central, by two over CHI and five over STL. PHI and RIC have nice leads in the wildcard race as well.... A rare sight with an NL batter leading the MLB HR race: Austin's Alfonso Contreras has 61 blasts, while Oakland's Ryan Walton has "only" 56.

......

TL;DR Version: A sloppy 5-8 run does not help our bigger playoff picture. The good news is that of our four remaining series we'll face only one team with a winning record--Houston, right behind us in the playoff race. If we can't come out on top playing three other bottom-dwellers, then we truly deserve our fate. On the player front, Medici has slowed a bit in his run to becoming the second Isle to reach 50 home runs: he's at 46, so getting close. And Covington, after another slow start to the season, has 19 HR, good for third on the team. Matt Waugh will get two, maybe even three, more starts, and with 18 wins he still has a chance to reach 20, although he's going to have to pitch a lot better than he has of late.

So we won't repeat with 122 wins, but we're just one away from another official winning season! With some solid play, maybe we'll reach 90!